Art Camp Day One

And here we are at the next camp, this one the "Imagination Unleashed" Art Camp at the Quinlan Art Center.  Madison was dropped off this morning at 9:00, and Daddy walked in with her for the usual spill from the counselors and teachers about what goes on during the week, where to pick up kids and so on.  We looked around the gallery for a bit, and soon enough, Madison was off with some new friends, making new art and learning new things.

Speaking of which, I've neglected to show this door here, and finally got around to snapping a photo of it.  This is Madison's bedroom door, all decorated with art and Summer Xtreme signs.  It's her "Summer Theme Door," which I'm assuming will be changing slightly in a few weeks.  Yes, alas, in only a few weeks we start up school again.  The summer goes by so fast.

It was raining today, but oddly enough not where Madison was.  She was able to run around outside and play games with the kids during the breaks.  There are about three "making art" sessions, a break for lunch, and then a few "recess" times, where the kids play some pre-arranged games that Madison talks about almost as much as she does the art she's creating.  She has an honest assessment of what she's doing with the artwork:  she thinks some things are coming out great, while others she isn't as happy with the end product.  Still, with those others, she's happy to be doing something new, and learning something new.  She's really loving this art camp.  Daddy picked her up at 2:00pm, and she spent a good deal of the time on the way home talking about how it all turned out.

We got home, and there was plenty of yard work going on, which is an ongoing battle.  Already the caterpillars are wanting to build nests in the trees, so we got out the big ladders and started snipping some branches to remove them.  We don't need caterpillars, thank you for the offer.

We watched LEGO Freemakers with Madison tonight, and did a reading exercise as well.  Daddy is hoping to improve Madison's speech patterns by having her read something out loud each day, recording her voice so that she can hear it herself.  Here's today's sample reading that Daddy wrote rather hurriedly:

     Once upon a time there was a girl named Madison, who got into trouble at school. You see, she brought her lightsaber to class one day.

     Her teacher didn’t think this was a good idea, and told her in homeroom.  Madison was asked to leave her lightsaber inside the teacher’s desk.

     Madison respected her teacher’s wishes because she knew she was supposed to be obedient to those God puts in charge.  Yet there was a reason she brought her lightsaber to class, and it was simply this:  Darth Vader posted a message on Facebook last night.  And that message was simply this:  “I AM COMING TO LITTLE MILL MIDDLE SCHOOL TOMORROW.”

     Madison knew she had to be prepared for anything.  And sure enough, right in the middle of lunch, Darth Vader showed up. Lunch trays were flying everywhere. Darth Vader used the force to launch meat loaf at teachers.  Mr. Rowan was hit in the face with mashed potatoes and some green vegetables.  Mrs. Greer was knocked down by sixteen servings of creamed corn.  And we won’t talk about what happened to Mrs. Bromoski.  It’s embarrassing.

     Needless to say, Madison was right.  Her teacher told her so, and begged Madison to do something.  So Madison ran to the classroom with her teacher, where she received her lightsaber.  She ran back to the lunchroom, and saw nothing but chaos.  That’s pronounced KAY-OSS.  It means lots of trouble, because Darth Vader was having the greatest time of his life.

     He laughed, “MOO-AH-AH-AH!” And then he used the force to throw a gallon of apple sauce on a group of boys.  Madison called out to him, “Stop!  You’re making a mess, Vader!”

     Lord Vader turned and said, “What?  Who dares?”

     And that’s when Madison ignited her lightsaber.  She said, “I dare.  Now stop all this nonsense immediately.”

     Lord Vader looked at Madison.

     Madison looked at Darth Vader.

     Lord Vader looked at Madison.

     Madison looked at Darth Vader.

    Finally Darth Vader said, “Okay, fine.  Whatever.” And he started to trudge away towards the exit.

     But Madison was not having any of this. She said, “Wait!”

     “Now what?” the Dark Lord of the Sith said.

     “You have to help us clean up!”

     Darth Vader sighed.  She was right, of course.  So he came back, got a mop, and started helping the janitors clean up the mess.

     In the end, the cafeteria looked clean enough – at least until the next day when six bounty hunters showed up.  But that, my friends, is a story for another time. 

     The lesson for today is really simple: Be respectful of teachers, of course.  But always be ready for a lightsaber battle.   

The hope is that she'll hear herself, and improve somewhat each day as she catches things.  She did some piano as well, and also some more drawing, because art camp doesn't stop when you leave the art center.  But soon it was time to go to bed. We went to bed early tonight, because we have to get up early for camp this week.  But there, we read and prayed, and zerberted.  We're back home, but we're still going, going, going...!